Suns-Hornets Preview

By JUSTIN EINHORNPosted Dec 29 2011 1:02PM

The post-Chris Paul era is off to a rousing start for the New Orleans Hornets, and they haven't even had their starting backcourt together for a game.

That could happen Friday night if Eric Gordon returns to join Jarrett Jack, coming off a strong first game replacing Paul as the starting point guard, when the undefeated Hornets face the visiting Phoenix Suns for the second time in five days.

"We have a lot of guys on this team that are hungry," Jack said. "A lot of guys want to prove themselves - a lot of capable guys."

One of them is Gordon, part of the deal that sent Paul to the Clippers. Gordon led New Orleans (2-0) to victory at Phoenix in his debut, scoring 20 points and hitting the decisive 20-footer with 4.2 seconds left in an 85-84 win Monday. However, he bruised his knee late in the game, and the resulting swelling prompted the team's medical staff to keep him out of Wednesday's home opener against Boston.

Jack stepped up with 21 points and nine assists as the Hornets rolled to a 97-78 victory. Acquired last season to back up Paul, Jack missed Monday's win due to a one-game league suspension stemming from a drunk-driving arrest.

"We didn't have Eric, so we needed to find those 20 points somewhere," coach Monty Williams said. "Jarrett Jack played very well. He gave us a calming effect. ... He's our leader and we'll need him to play like that all year."

Not much was expected of New Orleans following an offseason that saw Paul get traded and David West sign with Indiana. That left the Hornets without their top scorers from last season's team, which started 8-0 and went on to make the playoffs.

"This team's going to play with a chip on its shoulder the entire year," he said. "If I was a player and all I heard was, 'If you lose Chris Paul it's be the demise of the franchise,' that would make we want to prove a lot of people wrong."

It's possible Gordon could return Friday after practicing Wednesday but being forced to sit out that night's game mostly as a precaution.

"The (doctors), when they re-evaluated him after shootaround, they felt like this was a situation where you need to let this calm down before it turns into a two- to three-week thing," Williams said. "Right now it's day-to-day."

Seeing Gordon again surely wouldn't help the Suns, who already couldn't win at home against a Hornets team missing Jack. Things only got worse for Phoenix (0-2) on Wednesday, when it trailed by 14 at halftime and allowed the first 19 points after the break during a 103-83 home loss to Philadelphia.

The Suns have yet to crack 85 points, a number they reached all but three times last season when they finished fourth in the league at 105.0 per game.

Their starting five is the same as it was at the end of last season - that hadn't happened since 1990-91 - but that unit of Steve Nash, Jared Dudley, Grant Hill, Channing Frye and Marcin Gortat has combined to shoot 30.9 percent and average 34.5 points.

"Collectively we are not in a good rhythm," Hill said. "That is something usually we are pretty good at."

The Suns are off to their worst start since opening 0-13 in 1996-97.

"Obviously it was not what we anticipated," coach Alvin Gentry said. "... You lose those two games (at home) and it puts you behind the eight ball right away."

Copyright 2011 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Warrick leads Suns past Hornets, 93-78

By BRETT MARTELPosted Dec 31 2011 12:53AM

NEW ORLEANS (AP) Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry never had a problem with his team's effort and figured it was only a matter of time before the Suns would snap out of their shooting slump and secure their first victory of the young season.

Hakim Warrick scored 18 points in a reserve role, Channing Frye added 10 points and 16 rebounds, and the Suns handed the New Orleans Hornets their first loss, 93-78 on Friday night.

"When you look at the schedule and you're 0-2, you think there's a chance you'll go 0-66," Gentry said. "You look at the schedule after you win and you say, `Oh, we can do this or we can do that.' It's all psychological ... though. You've just got to go out and play. We've been doing a good job of competing, but our offense has been so stagnant. Tonight, we got out and ran."

Jared Dudley added 16 points, while Steve Nash dished out 12 assists for the Suns, who had shot 40 percent through two losses to open the season, including one to New Orleans in their home opener Monday night.

"We made a few more shots, but more than that, we continually created offense," Nash said. "To be consistent in creating good offensive opportunities was a step in the right direction because in the first game against New Orleans, I thought we missed some shots we usually make. But in our second game (against Philadelphia), we just looked really hesitant, out of synch and kind of like we were dumbfounded a little bit."

Hornets shooting guard Eric Gordon missed a second straight game with a bruised right knee, and this time New Orleans could not compensate for the prolific scorer's absence.

Carl Landry led New Orleans with 17 points, while Emeka Okafor had 10 points and 16 rebounds, but the Hornets shot only 29 percent (26 of 90), the second worst shooting performance in team history.

"We've got scorers on this team. Everybody on this team can average double-digit points. Just the ball didn't fall," Landry said. "It's unusual for a team to shoot (29) percent for the game. Unfortunately that was something we did tonight. It will turn around."

Gentry thought his team's intensity on the defensive end, more so in terms of contesting shots than rebounding, played a big role in the Hornets' shooting struggles.

"We did a great job of challenging everything at the rim," Gentry said. "It wasn't our offense. It was our defense that won the game."

Suns center Marcin Gortat scored 12 points and blocked four shots while playing with a splint on his injured right thumb. Shannon Brown added 11 points and Grant Hill 10 for Phoenix, which shot 42 percent (33 of 78). Warrick was 6 of 12 from the floor and 6 of 7 on free throws.

Jarrett Jack scored 12 points and Marco Belinelli grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds for New Orleans, which outrebounded Phoenix 57-47 and had 24 offensive boards, more than any team in the NBA in this first week of the season.

The Hornets had 23 second-chance points, but could have had a lot more if not for their shooting woes.

"We didn't play hard, and that's a sign I didn't do what we needed to do ... to have the team ready," Hornets coach Monty Williams said. "We couldn't throw it in the ocean. That happens on occasions, but our defense was not there tonight."

The Hornets got away with poor shooting in the first half, but it finally caught up with them halfway through the third quarter, when they were still just below 30 percent again (17 of 59).

Nash pulled up for a 3-pointer to give the Suns a 61-51 lead. Dudley then scored inside after baiting Chris Kaman to leave his feet on a ball fake. Frye followed with a 3 from the corner that fell through after a high bounce off the rim. Then Gortat capped a 10-0 run with an inside basket that made it 68-51.

New Orleans was unable to get any closer than nine points after that.

New Orleans hit only four of its first 20 shots (20 percent), but trailed only 16-14 at that point. Halfway through the second quarter, the Hornets were 10 of 35, but still trailed by only four after Okafor's free throws.

Soon after, the Suns raced to their first double-digit lead when Nash fueled a 6-0 spurt with fast-break feeds to Hill for a layup and Warrick for a dunk, making it 43-33.

New Orleans finally got over 30 percent - barely - when Belinelli hit his second 3 and Greivis Vasquez set up Okafor's dunk to make it 52-45 at halftime.

Notes: Brown got a technical foul in the second quarter for arguing with officials. ... Gentry also was called for a technical foul in the second quarter. ... New Orleans entered the game having won four straight against Phoenix, including the last three meetings last season. ... A near scuffle occurred early in the fourth quarter between the Suns' Robin Lopez and New Orleans' Trevor Ariza, who were each assessed technical fouls, but Brown and Jack quickly stepped between them before it escalated. ... New Orleans' offensive rebound total was higher than they had in any game last season.

Copyright 2011 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Notebook: Suns 93, Hornets 78

By Larry Holder, for NBA.comPosted Friday December 30, 2011 11:11PM

THE FACTS:Hakim Warrick scored a game-high 18 points as the Phoenix Suns ended their mini slump to pick up their first win of the season by beating the New Orleans Hornets 93-78 on Friday night in the New Orleans Arena.

QUOTABLE: "When you look at the schedule and you're 0-2, you think there's a chance you'll go 0-66. You look at the schedule after you win and you say, 'Oh we can do this or we can do that.' It's all psychological BS, though. You've just got to go out and play. We've been doing a good job of competing, but our offense has been so stagnant. [Friday night], we got out and ran."-- Suns coach Alvin Gentry on the team's first win of the season

THE STAT: No one for the Hornets really found their shooting stroke at all against the Suns as New Orleans shoot an abysmal 28.9 percent from the floor. It's well below the near 45 percent shooting clip the Hornets entered the Suns game shooting. The Suns weren't even playing good defense even though Gentry said he was ecstatic with the defensive effort even joking saying the Suns are a "defensive juggernaut." It was more a matter of the Hornets simply missed shots left and right.

TURNING POINT: Not having Hornets guard Eric Gordon gave the Hornets just about no offense so the momentum was against New Orleans before it even started the game. Gordon missed his second consecutive game with a bruised knee he sustained during New Orleans' season opening against Phoenix on Monday, where he added 20 points and hit the game-winning shot with 4.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter on Monday.

HOT: Warrick, Jared Dudley and Marcin Gortat shot a combined 17-for-29 from the field against the Hornets for a combined 42 points. Gentry said the offense is still a work in progress, though, as Phoenix's 93 points is the team highest point total of the season

NOT: The stat line might look good for the Suns' Channing Frye with 10 points and 16 rebounds, but his early season struggles continue as he shot 4-for-15 from the floor in the win.

QUOTABLE: "I didn't have the team ready. ... We didn't play hard on defense. ... We didn't even play average on defense."-- Hornets coach Monty Williams

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Hornets forward Carl Landry will be a go-to scorer this season in New Orleans and he proved it again Friday night. He scored 17 points along with nine rebounds despite the loss.

GOOD MOVE: Gentry stuck with Gortat despite playing with a fractured thumb on his right (shooting) hand. Gortat helped slow down the Hornets' momentum late in the fourth quarter by taking a charge on Landry and then making a basket despite being fouled on the ensuing possession to put the Suns up 84-73 with 4:24 left in the game. Gortat finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.

NOTABLE: Hornets center Gustavo Ayon's visa issues may have been solved as he can now legally play for the Hornets. But Williams isn't ready to throw the former Spanish league standout will actually play for New Orleans. Williams said Ayon is going to have to earn playing time. Ayon was inactive Friday night. ... Newly signed Suns guard Michael Redd was inactive on Friday. Phoenix signed Redd on Thursday to help bolster its offense.